Customer Reviews

Before & After

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I picked this book up in Greece and I couldn't put it down. Eventually I had convinced so many people that it was worth reading that I began a "traveler's reading list." Before and After is now on her maiden voyage across the world- I can't imagine how many people have read that particular copy by now, but I do know she has been in Greece, Italy, France, Spain, Morocco, Germany, London, and New York and Alaska. I can only imagine who is enjoying her now.

Matthew Thomas has written one of the best books that I have read this year, and I have read quite a few! He has a funny and witty way of writing that kept me involved in the book. Exploding sheep, the 'downfall' of the Millenium Dome, the final armageddon, and a new Satan called Nick; all combine to make a great The story is one of your basic end of the world stories, which rely on the main characters to stop it. This time, though, Prof. Mike D. Nostrus (Nostradamus, now a 500 yr old prophet) and his beautiful young assisstant, Deborah, are not out to save the world, just themselves. With his great insight into the future happenings Mike knows when and where the events will be happening, and tries to get as far away as possible. How wrong can one man be.... The final battle scene is one of the best that I have read, and the pictures that are conjured in your mind as the knights of the round table give chase to 'Jean Paul' the abbot of the Masticating Monks of Montpellier are... well read the book and, I promise you will not be disappointed!

The book is a painfully funny satire about the end of the world. Written by an author who writes with incredible intelligence inter-twined with simple, stupid, potty humor, it is appreciable by both sarcastic rocket scientists and drivelling trailer-trash. Thomas uses witty headings, much in the style of "Frasier:" "Route 666" (the deamons must drive a semi along a British motorway, and it's just hell), "Hell's Kitchen" (a section about the Masticating Monks of Montpellier; demons who are great French Chefs), and "Jesus Wants Me For an Electromagnetic Wavefront" (read it and find out). Also, he comes up with crazy metaphores and outlandish discriptions: (describing the spacial dimensions of Hell...)"FORWARD was twisted around UP, which doubld back on itself in a fit of pique. RIGHT did an inverted barrel roll around DOWN, and, after wraping itself twice around LEFT, shot off into infinity. BACKWARDS just gave up on trying to get a look-in and went off to do its own thing. If some bright yound origami expert wsa ever able to build a model of this arrangement it would have sling-shotted him into another dimension." The list of characters is also a high in the book. We have Michael Nostros, a 500-year-old-prophet/professor who has decided to cash in on the end of the world and hole up to save himself. His accomplice is Deborah, a smart, young, beautiful, karate-chopping undergraduate. Along the way they meet Adam; who falls in love with Deborah and takes out all of his little-man syndrome symptoms on her; Young Nick, the ruler of Hell; Rubicante and Gruttlehog, two stupid assassin demons; Sid, Adam's ego; Ted Trundell, the leader of the Church of the Eloquent Announcement (he got a message from God through Boo-Boo on Yogi Bear), and his followers, the Spiritual Marines (the prereq's to be part of this: go through Bible College, fight on the front lines in a major military battle, have an expensive Italian suit and a sidearm with enough power to knock out a cow, and be six feet tall.) And of course the exploding sheep.

If you like twisted humor, I would VERY HIGHLY RECOMMEND this book. But make sure you read it alone--when you break out laughing more than one time in 5 minutes, the people around you start to get kind of upset. And, when you start feeling like you've just gotta share this wealth of literary genius with all those around and read it out loud, they really get crabby. But it's worth it. Very muchly so.

I love this book and I can't wait for Mr. Thomas to publish another! I was particulary interested in the Welsh aspect of the book: prophetic Welsh cakes and the bumbling nationalists. A very good read.

If you're looking for something that's funny in a twisted sort of way, this is a must-read. Thomas has an amazing ability to capture the essence of things in bizarre imagery and exuberant one-liners. The writing is fresh, and the book is one of the most original I've read recently. You have to have a dry sense of humour to really enjoy this book, but I loved it - exploding sheep and all.

this book is about the end of the world as we know it, yet it is funny in a kind of fashion which was the domain of Dagglas Addams in the "Hitch Hiker to the galaxy" till now.

over all great book and alot of fun!

The back cover of this book says it all..."The sheep shall be the first sign. Those that frolic and hop will detonate with great concussions, The strongest glues will not hold then, their suffering will go unheeded, Until the great triangles depart" "Not with a bang but a BAAAAAAAAAAAAAOOOM!"

I purchased this book at Heathrow on a flight back to the US who could resist a cover with a sheep munching grass and then on the back luanching into space? The entertainment factor of this book is extremely high. If you like Tom Robbins with his ability to impart personality onto inanimate objects or the Hitchhikers guide series with its ability to comically critisize daily life, then you will LOVE not just like this one from Mattew Thomas. Here are just some of the questions answered by this one.

1. What did happen to nostradomus 2. Is the Y2k bug really a problem 3. Who built those pyramids and do they want em back? 4. What does an oxygen deprived fish think as it is dying and being stared at by us humans?

I can only hope Mr. Thomas keeps on and this is not just a 1 hit wonder. I would love to see this one made into a movie.

This is a book I recommend to anybody from the age of 12 and up. I read this book 5 years ago and still keep a copy on me wherever I live. It's enjoyable to read over and over because of the many jokes and allusions that you miss the first few times. And if not for that, just to relive certain favourite segments from the story.

A wonderful choice for the holidays for somebody with a bizarre sense of humour and an appreciation for philosophy, history and the paranormal.

The back cover sums it up perfectly. If you enjoy this you'll love the book.

"THIS IS THE WAY THE WORLD ENDS...

The sheep shall be the first sign.
Those that folic and hop will detonate with great concussions,
The strongest glues will not hold them, their sufferng will go unheeded,
Until the great Triangles depart."
From the Lost Centuries of Nostradamus: Quatrain v11.5

...NOT WITH A BANG BUT WITH A BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-OOOM!

Matthew Thomas is writing in the British comedy tradition of Douglas Adams, Terry Pratchett, Robert Rankin and even Monty Python. It's comedy that works on various levels, with some sophisticated social commentary but also lots and lots of pure silliness. For example, Thomas postulates the Second Law of Thermotheology: '...the Multiverse is awash with faithons, the smallest measurable particle of belief. When enough sentient beings concentrate these sub-belief particles into one particular form the new god appears in a flash of fidelity and in full accordance with the Laws of Conservation of Conviction.' And like the aforenamed commedians, Thomas's wit is particularly aimed at the right--I certainly don't mind that, being a liberal myself, but I suppose there are readers out there who simply won't find their opinions being mocked very funny. Thomas is very English, too, so in order to get all of the references it helps to be an Anglophile--I missed more than a few.

I enjoyed Before and After, but I have to admit that I was also put in mind of a Saturday Night Live skit that goes on too long for the material. Clearly I'm in the minority of reviewers here, but at about page 200 I started to wish he'd just get on with it, and by about page 300 reading had really become a chore. The book went on for another 125 pages and I gamely stayed with it for the resolution of the plot, but the humor had pretty much played itself out by that time. Odd that, for me, the battle of Armageddon was an anticlimax. I hope that Thomas adopts the old show biz addage from now on: Always leave 'em wanting more. Myself, I wanted less...

The level of humor, and biting wit in this book that unabashedly makes fun of all peoples could not be more refined and perfected. Thomas is not only humorous, but makes profound statements about history, its' perception, humans in general, and religion. I picked up this book origionally in France because the cover and brief description on it caught my eye. The short statement speaks volumes, "A novel about exploding sheep, Nostradomus and the end of the world", and that is exactly what it is. One of thebest moments in the book is Nostrus' description of the Black Plague and it's more social aspect which cuts to the heart of the truth of humanity, proving Thomas' ability to be both humorous and intelligent all at once. A superb read I have passed along to all my friends, who all look at me with surprise when Colin, the sheep, explodes, then thank me for my contribution to the enjoyment in their lives with new found respect. Buy and enjoy for it is worth the delay for shipping!